Memphis to Introduce TCU’s Fuente as Football Coach

Daily News staff

The University of Memphis has confirmed it has named TCU co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Justin Fuente the Tigers’ head football coach.

It is the first head coaching job for the 35-year-old Tulsa, Okla., native, who has spent the past five years on TCU’s staff under Horned Frogs’ head coach Gary Patterson. Before being named co-offensive coordinator in 2009, Fuente was the team’s running backs coach.

The U of M plans to formally introduce Fuente as coach at a noon press conference Thursday, Dec. 8. It will be streamed live on gotigersgo.com.

Memphis fired Larry Porter Nov. 27 after Porter went 3-21 in his two seasons with the Tigers. It was Porter’s first head coaching job, as well.

The next day, U of M President Shirley Raines said she wanted to hire a coach as soon as possible. And the day after that, the school said it had hired Eastman and Beaudine Management Consultants to help the football search committee replace Porter. Tigers athletic director R.C. Johnson, who is retiring in June, was not on the search committee.

In Fuente’s first two seasons as coordinator, TCU set single-season school records for touchdowns, points scored and first downs, according to TCU. The Horned Frogs made back-to-back BCS appearances, appearing in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl and winning the 2011 Rose Bowl.

TCU was the only football program that finished in the Top 10 in the Associated Press and USA Today polls all three seasons from 2008 to 2010.

Updates on U of M’s introduction of Fuente will be available at memphisdailynews.com this afternoon. More details will be in the Friday, Dec. 9, edition of The Daily News and the Saturday, Dec. 10, edition of The Memphis News.